Bizarre outburst at end of Kansas City’s Week 13 loss led to him missing Oakland game

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters has been suspended for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders, head coach Andy Reid announced on Wednesday. Peters will not be paid his standard game check and will not be allowed to practice either.

Peters was visibly angry following a Chiefs penalty on the two-point conversion in the final minutes of the loss to the New York Jets. First, he picked up an official’s flag and threw it into the stands.

Then Peters — who was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty but not ejected — left the field and went into the locker room before the end of the game. As Peters left, escorted by a member of the Chiefs security team, he even stopped to slap hands with a Chiefs fan in the stands.

Peters returned to the sideline, but when he came back he was not wearing socks underneath his cleats. The Chiefs lost the game in the waning moments, 38-31.

Following the game, Reid said: "That's why he left the field. I don't know what was said to him or not said to him. But he thought he was. That's why he came back out.”

On Tuesday, Reid said he was still "evaluating" whether Peters would be disciplined for the incident. "I haven’t made any decision either way,” Reid said. "That was the wrong thing for him to do.”

Reid slept on it and made his decision known on Wednesday that Peters would miss the Raiders game. What changed or led Reid to this decision is not clear, but it is obvious that the Chiefs have an identity problem — especially on defense.

For all the chatter about benching Alex Smith, it’s obvious that the secondary has taken a hit. It started with the Week 1 loss of safety Eric Berry and slowly has eroded to this point. Darrelle Revis, who was signed last week off the street, started Sunday and was made a captain against his former Jets team but was benched in the second half.

The Chiefs might have to lean on Steven Nelson (who was flagged for the penalty that incensed Peters), Terrance Mitchell, Revis, Phillip Gaines and Kenneth Acker at corner against the Raiders, who get back wide receiver Michael Crabtree from suspension for this Week 14 game.

The Chiefs started the season 5-0 but have lost four straight and six of the past seven. They find themselves in a thick AFC West race now with the Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers and have to beat the Raiders to avoid falling below .500 and slipping out of first place in the division.

The Chiefs’ first loss of the season, which started their downturn, came at the hands of the Raiders in a 31-30 thriller in Oakland back in Week 7. The finish to that game — with penalties on back-to-back plays on the Raiders’ late game-winning drive — was eerily similar to Sunday’s meltdown.